One Day We Will All Come Together

This world we currently live in is a broken, spinning orb. A world where we look for perfection, but, often times find division and doubt. There are wonderful moments for sure, but they are still tinged with the rot of this world….a rot that started when humankind bit hard into the fruit and felt the taste of separation from God.

But, for those of us that know Christ, one day we will all come together.

Every race and nationality from all the corners of the world. Every socio-economic bracket. Male and female. Old and young. Big and small.

No barriers.

Together……..the redeemed.

Our voices will raise in unison to the One who deserves all the praise, all the glory, and all the honor, forever and ever. Amen.

What a day, glorious day, that will be!

“Jesus Messiah”   By: Chris Tomlin

He became sin, who knew no sin
That we might become His righteousness
He humbled himself and carried the cross

Love so amazing, love so amazing

Jesus Messiah, name above all names
Blessed redeemer, Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners, the ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah, Lord of all

His body the bread, his blood the wine
Broken and poured out all for love
The whole earth trembled, and the veil was torn

Love so amazing, love so amazing, yeah

Jesus Messiah, name above all names
Blessed redeemer, Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners, the ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah, Lord of all

All our hope is in You, all our hope is in You
All the glory to You, God, the light of the world

Jesus Messiah, name above all names
Blessed redeemer, Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners, the ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah, Lord of all

 

 

I AM

The word am is the first person singular of be.                                                                          A name for Him, whose love set me free.

This morning in church, singing to the great I AM                                                                    The Alpha and Omega and The Risen Lamb.

The One who was, and is, and is to come.                                                                                  Great Holy Father who calls Heaven home.

For always and forever more, across time and space…                                                              A story of redemption and His amazing grace.

********************************************************************

Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM“; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'” Exodus 3:13-14

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” John 8:58

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten ( unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. John 3:16 (Amplified)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moments In Life

There are moments in life when you just know….know that this brief flash in time will forever be etched in the memory.

Times that are bittersweet.

When you realize at that very moment that everything will change.

Wanting just a little while longer…

but knowing it isn’t to be.

There is no going back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***********************************************************************************************

Today I am thankful for:

* clouds that scud across the moon

* watching the dark storm clouds pile up on the horizon

* waiting for the rain

* wispy fog hugging the ground

* the cry of birds in the early morning

* watching my son graduate

* tears of joy

* going out to eat as a family

* singing with my husband

* bouquet of roses

* cards from my husband and children

* love

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.  I Chronicles 16:34

 

 

 

 

Reminders

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evening chores, mundane moments…trudged through in habit.

Occupied thoughts amidst the sounds of hungry animals.

Staring out across the yard as the evening sun slips quietly into the night.

Ears attuned to the sounds. Dogs barking in the distance, frogs grunting, llamas humming, and that lone train whistle.

Familiar sounds.

Reminders of where she is, and who she is.

Reminders of how different her life is now.

Reminders of how life changes, people grow, lessons are learned, friends made, memories kept.

The unusually cool breeze stirs the field grass and it’s chill feels good on the skin.

The kitchen light pours through the front window and pools in the growing darkness.

She’s counting all the good things in her head, as she walks back to the house………

**************************************************************************

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a futureThen you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV

 

 

 

 

Related articles

• Lonely Sounds (stanfordnl.wordpress.com)
• 3:30 AM Thursday Morning (radk1948.wordpress.com)
• In Another Life… (sleepbeforewaking.wordpress.com)
• Get Wonderful Dog Training Whistles from eWhistles (ewhistle.wordpress.com)

The Sweetest Harmony

Last week I was in Costa Rica, having fun and enjoying the tropical locale. Good conversation with great people. Fresh pineapple with sweetness that was addicting. Sitting in a chair on the beach, watching the ocean crash into the sand.The opportunity for me to enjoy…

Blessed beyond words.

The scales tip wildly– me in an expensive vacation home, catered too, fed, given so much. They in houses that are necessary shelter, very little comfort, practical and plain.

My brothers and sisters. We are very different and yet so much the same.

And these things Lord, the opportunities given to me, blessings beyond imagination– am I here too for such a time as this?

What is my role, my responsibility? The challenge, the honor? This one life that I have been given. The minutes that make up the lifetime.

The ocean waves roll in, breaking hard, causing a foamy surf.

The sun shines on the Pacific water, as I contemplate time, and life, and purpose.

Made in Your image–these people. Me. All of us.

Loved by You, always by You. The vast ocean could not, cannot, contain your love…no, not the whole of the world can contain it. For it is your love that covers us all. No matter the color of our skin, the language that we speak, the differences of culture or custom.

And isn’t it my job, my responsibility to share? Not just the vastness of Your ocean with others but, the great depth of Your love?

And shouldn’t John 3:16 be the song that I hear in the crashing waves on this beach so far away?  The melody of the love song that pulls us all into sweet harmony with You.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  John 3:16-17 NIV

 

Related articles

• Why people love the Beach? (coastalpeople.wordpress.com)
• Top Ten Ways to Spend your Costa Rican Vacation (epicatravel.com)
• *The greatness of our God* (fionacaeline.wordpress.com)
• Costa Rica – Paradise! (maryneumannphotography.wordpress.com)
• Dream Destination – Costa Rica (shortstuffmedia.wordpress.com)

A Life Well Lived

My Day Runner is open on the desk. The days marked off neatly on my calendar.

I’m already thinking ahead.

I am marking and highlighting the important events that will occur over the next several months.

I try to prepare for what lies ahead.

Hours. Days. Weeks. Months = TIME

I consider this…the value of it.

How I use it. How I abuse it. How I appreciate it and how I take it for granted.

We all do those things, don’t we?

We assume that we will always have enough, and that the calendar will always allow us yet another day.

That is the worst sort of cavalier attitude, for without appreciation, time, no matter how much, is wasted.

One of my favorite quotes…….

“Don’t be so busy making a living, that you forget to make a life.”

Because, hasn’t God given us this one wild life, to appreciate? Doesn’t He give us the precious gift of time to enjoy?

Shouldn’t our days be full of Him?

Oh sure, we have to work, there are necessary appointments and mandatory assignments…

But, most of the calendar should be filled with moments of thankfulness. Days of gratitude.

A life well lived.

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” ¹⁴ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”  James 4 –NASB

Related articles

• Organizing your Day (buymybagsblog.wordpress.com)
• Gratitude towards friends (101onfriendship.wordpress.com)
• Calendar And Clock (kimaj1.wordpress.com)

I’m Blaming Hormones…Because I Can

For those of you that read my blog regularly, you know that yesterday was the pits for me. I’m happy to say, today has been much better. I really need to credit my husband. Now, he probably would not fully appreciate my undying affection splayed out all over the internet…but, that is not going to stop me. After all, day in and day out we hear all the hard, gritty stuff of life and the good stuff doesn’t get talked about as much. Today I am going to counter balance yesterday’s grumpy moodiness with today’s happier, more uplifting note.

First things first. I love my husband. I really do. He’s not perfect, because Lord knows if he were, he would not be with me! I am not perfect, not even close. My husband does balance me. I was swimming around in my moody muck last night, threatening sack cloth and ashes, and loud wailing. It was not pretty. He smiled at me and said something to the effect of “it’s not that bad”. I momentarily thought of throwing a flip flop at him….but, I chose the higher moral ground and decided that assault by flip flop is NOT what a loving wife would do. So, instead I listened to him. He remained calm during my emotional thunderstorm. It made me love him even more. Then he said, “I think we need to go out”. I agreed. We had a nice dinner and an even better conversation. Nothing like Mexican food to calm the inner beast, or the psychotic wife. Just saying.

He could have reacted differently to my bad mood. I wouldn’t have blamed him. Well…..okay, I might have blamed him because that was the frame of mind I was in, but he ignored the mess he married and made the choice to love me despite my flaws. He is really good that way and I sure do appreciate that about him.

Now, there will be days when I get to return the favor…. days when he is having it rough. We all ride this roller coaster of life with its ups and downs, and we are no exception. My mom always used to say, “Just remember, this too shall pass.” I think my husband and my mom must have been cut from the same cloth…..and lucky them, they both get to deal with me:)

Seriously, I’m not that horrible. Most of the time.

I’m blaming hormones…because I’m a woman, and I can.                                                   

⁹ Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.   —Ecclesiastes 4

 

Related articles

• Helping Husband or Hindering Husband? (husbandofahomeschoolingmom.com)
• DIY -Flipping Out Flip Flops (thediyshow.com)
• So You Having A Bad Day – Now What? (ubebetternotbitter.wordpress.com)

Ride The Waters Of Time

I’m going to turn forty-five in a few weeks. To some of you that might seem ancient, and to others it is still “young”. Honestly, I’m not sure

how I feel about it. My husband (who will turn forty-nine this summer) and I were talking about age the other night. I, being the somewhat occasionally morbid person that I am said, “I’m probably more than half way through my life”, to which he replied, “me, too”. Then we were quiet for a few moments, mulling that over, I suppose. Then I said, “When did this happen? I don’t feel like I should be forty-five, on the inside I feel much younger.” He laughed at me. Okay, maybe not AT me….maybe WITH me….but, the truth is, I wasn’t really laughing. I was being serious, well sort of with a smirk. Where in the world did the time go? That became a very real question to me.

I graduated high school in 1986 and college in 1990. The times at school seem almost surreal to me, like it might as well have been a million years ago. So much has happened since then. So much has changed me, so much has aged me. My marriage to my first husband ended when he died in the Fall of 2000. Our wedding, buying our first house, giving birth to our son, those things all wrapped in a time capsule mist. Now, I’m remarried, that first house was sold years ago, and my baby boy will be turning eighteen, only two days after my birthday. Time does not trickle, it gushes. It plunges me under like a roaring white water rapid. I’m left gasping.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy. I’m not miserable, sitting around waiting to die. Nothing like that at all. There is so much good in my life, I have been blessed in so many ways, it would be impossible for me to count them all. I’m living a life that I would never have dreamed of even a decade ago, much less when I was in college, young and single. My Eucharisteo (Give Thanks) board is full, and I am fully aware. Aware of all that is a gift. Life itself is a gift, you know. Sometimes I’m overwhelmed by it, both the good and the not so good. I came to the realization a long time ago that my God has a sense of humor, and He enjoys keeping this life of mine, interesting. He told me that He has plans for me, and a great future, and I believe Him. (For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

Forty-five. I’m a bit more “fluffy” than I was in my twenties. (Doesn’t that word sound so much better than chubby?) My hair shows a few strands of gray now (that is when I’m desperate to get my roots taken care of). I have a few (yes, only a very few!) wrinkles around my eyes. I have children that I am proud of, a husband that is truly my best friend, a family that loves me, and I have fulfilling work as a special education teacher. I live in the country, surrounded by God’s handiwork, and get to take care of  animals that I love and enjoy.

Yes, that river of time is still breaking hard all around me. There are days when I wish I could just stop and get out, sit on the bank for awhile. Slow down. Capture the moments….because I realize that I will never be this way again. There is no going back, only forward. The current takes me there, to the future in the days ahead. I’m not sure what will be there, or what is around the bend. I guess I’ll just have to ride the waters of time, and wait and see. After all, life is interesting that way…even if one is getting ready to turn forty-five.

Related articles

• Forty Things I Didn’t Know Five Years Ago (autisticson.wordpress.com)
• Riding this Bike of Life In Christ (mckraegame.com)
• Items of 100-year-old time capsule revealed (kfor.com)
• Life Begins At Forty (fortysomethingworld.wordpress.com)
• Forty and Fearless (titanimom.wordpress.com)
• Being Over Forty (expertscolumn.com)
• Waiting on God…How long? (staceymp328.wordpress.com)
• Laugh at yourself, nobody else can appreciate you more than you! (princeowen24.wordpress.com)

Pulling Off The Mask

She poured her heart out as she told his story. The woman on the screen, giving testimony to the young man’s mask of pain. The ladies in the Bible study listened intently, understanding that all to often, we too, wear the mask. The mask that hides the less than perfect, the heartbroken, the feelings of lacking.

Masked. (Photo credit: .Andi.)

Let’s be honest.

But, that is so difficult. It feels wrong to admit.

The mask begins to crack.

The mirror shows the lines that are around the eyes. Every mark on the scale causes anxiety. Too exhausted to exercise. The house needs cleaned and the laundry done. Dishes are in the sink and the family needs a healthy meal. Deadlines need to be met. Bills are due and the cat just puked. I’m up to my knees in mud and the roof has a leak. Kids going here and there and husband just wants some face time. Stress level is high and the report is due. Energy lags and the days can seem so long.

This life will never be in a lay out for Better Homes and Gardens.

Surely, others have it more together than I do.

The ladies in the group, breathe in the confession. They slowly shake their heads. We all suffer from the pinching of the mask, as it covers

who we really are.

Oh, God! Why do we do this to ourselves? Trying to be perfect and have it all together, when the heart feels the struggle?

Help us, Lord to give up the mask. It doesn’t fit anyway.

Love is a better cover.

Love for ones self…and for others.

Because no one is perfect, and it feels good to just breathe.

The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”  Mark 12:31 NIV

Related articles

• Masks (healingthoughtsblog.com)
• #1 The Mask ; (mysweetxcape.wordpress.com)
• A Box of Masks… (behindthemaskofabuse.com)

Dream

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*********************************************************************

What are your dreams?

What do you want to do, to complete this one full life that God has given you?

How do you spend your moments? Precious, valuable moments sifted through the day to day.

How are you making your journey, not about just surviving…but, really living?

You know that days don’t have to be extraordinary to be exhilarating…

or be momentous to be magnificent?

Eyes that are open to all the wonders,

and a thankful heart that knows no boundaries,

are what make a life meaningful.

 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  James 1: 17 NIV

 

Related articles

• I Am Loved (gibsongirl247.wordpress.com)
• If You Look to People (unwalled.wordpress.com)
• Good Morning! – Lean On God (swiftlifeachiever.wordpress.com)
• Thinking Small? (stumbling-into-grace.com)
• Making the Most of Life (travelrelapse.com)